Made in NH– Authors: E.C. Ambrose
By Amy Ray
This is the ninth in a series of ten-question interviews of authors who represented NHWP at the Made in New Hampshire Expo booth.
Elisha Barber is the first in a historical fantasy series by E.C. Ambrose. Magic, Intrigue, Medieval Surgery…In 14th century England, a barber-surgeon learns diabolical magic to defeat an unjust king, but the cost may be more than his soul.
Amy Ray: What inspired you to become a writer?
E.C. Ambrose: I fell in love with stories at an early age, and wanted to become one of the story-tellers, so I could give others the same joy and inspiration I had found between the pages of a book.
AR: What is the most challenging aspect of writing for you?
ECA: Revision! I hate it. I know, especially with my editors’ guidance, that the books get betterin revision, but I’m always happiest when I am drafting new work. Going back to get everything perfect in something I've already finished feels like the wrong direction.
AR: There are many typewriter fans here at the Writers’ Project. How do you write: computer, typewriter, longhand, dictation…?
ECA: Computer all the way! I just started with Scrivener to make the process easier. I do much of my brainstorming on paper, though, often with note cards and mind maps and all that good stuff.
AR: Plotter or Pantser? (Do you plot ahead of time or fly by the seat of your pants?)
ECA: Definitely a plotter, though I transitioned from pantser during the back and forth with my editors on my current series. Because I’m a plotter, I can write over three thousand words a day when I’m drafting, and finish a solid draft in a couple of months.
AR: What was your path to publication: agent with traditional publisher, small press, indie publishing or self-publishing?
ECA: I submitted directly to my New York publisher, to a new editor there who was just starting to acquire books on his own. When I had a bite from a small press editor who also had the manuscript, I got an agent to handle the negotiations, and to check back with the NY publisher to see if they were interested. Indeed they were, and my agent was able to negotiate contracts for all five books in the series.
AR: How long did it take you to get from your initial inspiration to the finished product?
ECA: From inspiration? That’s a little tricky. I was inspired to write Elisha Barber, the first in the Dark Apostle series, while researching medieval medicine for a scene in another book. I read far too many research books for that single scene, then I had an idea for a completely different book. I pictured a man with blood dripping from his hands, standing in a sunlit doorway, saying, “My God, I've killed them all.” Who had he killed? And why? And what would happen next? But I had to put off the writing until that other book was finished.
I wrote Elisha Barber as a chapter-a-day challenge, my version of NANOWRIMO, and I wrote the book in thirty-five days, start to finish. (That draft, at thirty-eight chapters long, was substantially the same as the one I submitted for publication—I think the sustained energy level of that work really showed.) Then it took eighteen months for the book to be published after they bought it.
AR: How do you market your books?
ECA: We gave away copies at a blood drive, to everyone who donated. I have a fun/weird little book trailer that begins, “Are you worried about healthcare?” and suggests that we should return to the days of the barber-surgeon. I also attend a lot of science fiction/fantasy conventions where I can interact with lots of readers who enjoy this kind of material.
AR: Do you have any advice for other writers?
ECA: My favorite saying—There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree: Catch that first limb and climb, or find a good acorn, sit on it, and wait.
You can do a lot of waiting, or you can just get up and go with your dream. I actually have that quote stuck to the top of my computer monitor. What are you waiting for? Start writing that book. If you write three hundred words a day, you’ll have a book by the end of the year.
AR: Are you working on a new writing project?
ECA: I am drafting the fifth and final book in the series. Also planning for a thriller novel, and waiting to polish up an oriental epic fantasy called Drakemaster. Did I mention that I have a detailed two-year career plan I’m working on? I’m currently three months behind, but I’m catching up fast!
AR: What are you reading now?
ECA: I just finished the excellent Dreamers by Donna Glee Williams on my e-reader and am now reading The Walking Fish in trade paperback.
Amy Ray’s book, Dangerous Denial, is a Silver Falchion nominee in the category of Best First Novel: Thriller/Mystery. Ray also has a short story in the New Hampshire Pulp Fiction anthology, Love Free or Die. She lives on the seacoast and is a longtime member of NHWP.